


Figments and Apparitions

by giantessmess



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, Season 1, Vampire AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-17 16:38:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13080936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantessmess/pseuds/giantessmess
Summary: In the middle of a fight, Kara makes a discovery about Cat that she wasn't expecting.





	Figments and Apparitions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inkheart9459](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkheart9459/gifts).



The Catco building shook as the Risark slammed into it. Climbing up the side with ease, it had the kind of claws that Kara knew would leave the worst marks on the soft metal, the fragile glass. Something Kara suspected she would be hearing about for weeks to come.

“Super.”

The fight had started an hour ago. The sirens wailed throughout the city, while Alex yelled through Kara’s earpiece. 

“You need to get it away from civilians, Supergirl!”

“You think I don’t know that?”

Kara could hear the rush of noises inside. Cat barking into her phone. All the screens in her office providing a strange echo in Kara’s head as it displayed the fight happening on the side of the building.

Embarrassingly, Kara was thinking about hiring the future contractor when the next blow took her by surprise. The pain sang as it reverberated through her skull and both she and the creature tumbled over the balcony and smashed through the window of Cat’s office. 

That’s when the world slowed down. Every sound seemed to fade, save for the terrible moment to come. The moment Kara heard it. The crack, the scream, as the creature collided with Cat. 

The Risark took Kara’s momentary distraction as a chance to flee, and Kara could hear the yelling of Alex in her earpiece. No, wait, it was Kara doing the screaming. The yelling. She was calling for Cat. Begging her to be ok. Kara dashed through the mess of cracked furniture and broken glass. Until she saw Cat’s crumpled form. Her body bent, awkwardly, in ways no human could survive.

Then another sound. A sigh. Kara jumped when she heard it coming from the unmoving form. Cat’s voice was an annoyed mutter.

“Well, this is extremely inconvenient.”

Cat let out slow groan. And somehow, as if it were no real effort, she sat up. Clicking her neck back into place, her eyes glared around at the damage that her office had suffered. She patted down her hair and let out an annoyed sound when she studied the tear in the rich material of her skirt.

“This is an _Oscar de la Renta_! I had it custom-designed.”

Kara didn’t know what to say, what to do. She hurried to Cat’s side.

‘Um…can he fix it?’

“No.” Cat rolled her eyes. “Given that he’s dead.”

It hit Kara then, what made this moment so unnerving. Why the hairs on the back of her neck seemed to be standing on end. There wasn’t a heartbeat. Why didn’t Cat have a heartbeat?

Cat seemed to notice that too. She blinked, as if irritated. Then she gave her chest a small thump with her fist. And her heart began thudding again consistently. Kara opened her mouth.

“You... but...”

Cat sighed.

“This is going to get complicated. I need a drink.”

Cat stood, brushing the broken glass off her clothes. She marched to the back wall where her mini bar used to sit. But the cabinet was cracked in two. There was no sign of her decanter containing the amber liquid. No sign of the crystal tumblers that always sat beside it. Cat hunched down, as if looking for any drop of unspilled alcohol. She mustn’t have liked what she found, for she let out a string of barely-audible swear words. 

“So much for that,” Cat muttered, standing up. She zeroed in on Kara’s presence, finally. “Can you be useful for once, _Kiera_ , and take me home?”

“For _once_?”

Cat simply leveled her with a glare. Kara crossed her arms. But then she blinked a couple of times and remembered the weight of her cape behind her. 

“Wait…” Kara held up a hand. “No. I mean…you can’t think? We’ve been over this, Miss Grant.”

“I’m not having this conversation without a good scotch,” Cat said. “And that’s final. Up up and away, already.”

Kara must have been stunned. Shocked by the combination of the damage to Catco, at the certainty that Cat had been dead. That had to be why she pulled Cat against her, trying to ignore the warmth that sensation brought, and took them both to the sky.

* * *

Kara wasn’t sure why she didn’t just drop Cat at her apartment and leave. She could still plead ignorance to what Cat seemed to know. But she couldn’t stop the feeling of dread in her gut, brought about by the image of Cat lying there amongst the rubble. No heartbeat. 

Landing them on the balcony of Cat’s penthouse, Kara hesitated. Cat gave her an expectant staring down. 

“Problem?”

“No…”

She followed Cat inside, unaccountably nervous.

“We’re having a drink, Kara,” Cat said, heading straight to a selection of expensive-looking bottles lined up on her kitchen counter.

“Miss Grant, I’m not…”

“Enough,” Cat said. She selected a bottle with the least amount of liquid and began pouring their drinks. “That was our agreement. No wriggling out of it.” 

“Um…” Kara stood, crossing her arms. But more out of awkwardness than anything else. “That’s ok. I don’t need anything.”

Cat handed her a tumbler of scotch, before leaning casually against the counter and sipping her own.

“I insist.”

Kara immediately pulled a face at the taste. Looking up, she noticed the hint of amusement in Cat’s expression.

“You’re like a child,” Cat tittered, taking the glass away. “Should I offer you a malted milkshake?”

“Lemonade?” Kara asked hopefully. Cat rolled her eyes, but she strolled to the fridge anyway, calm as anything. She fetched a tiny bottle that looked too fancy to be lemonade. But when she handed the new glass to Kara, the smell was unmistakable.

“Carter insists on soda, I insist on _Pellegrino Limonata_ ,” Cat said, shrugging.

It tasted a little of Eliza’s home-made lemonade. Of summers spent in Midvale, running to the beach with Alex in tow. Kara could sense Cat sizing her up, and she returned the look with a smile of her own. She chided herself for being so unsettled, so worried about what had happened back at Catco. She was convinced she had overreacted. Until she looked closer. Until she saw.

Cat’s sharp teeth. No, fangs. They were _fangs_. Kara jumped, dropping her glass, backing away.

“Oh my gosh!”

But when she looked up again, the fangs were gone. Cat was just Cat, sporting an expression that seemed to be a little close to hurt.

“You really are cookies and sunshine down to your core aren’t you?” Cat sighed, leaning down to pick up the dropped glass and tutting at the spill soaking into the carpet. “Does your heart beat to the tune of jingle bells?”

Kara immediately thought of Cat’s heart. Then the teeth, again. She felt a little sick. Dizzy. She had to sit down. In the absence of a close seat she chose the floor, her back meeting the wood of the kitchen counter.

“I heard...” she let out a breath. “Your neck...”

Cat was in the kitchen getting a washcloth. When she returned, Kara could see a hint of worry in her expression. 

“I snapped it back,” Cat said, softly, as she began to mop up the sticky lemonade. Kara hurried to help, desperate suddenly to be given a familiar task. Cat waved her off.

“I shouldn’t have shown you like that,” Cat sounded apologetic. “I just…”

She didn’t continue the thought and neither of them said anything for a moment, both crouched over a shared mess. 

“Well,” Cat said. She looked Kara in the eye. “This is going to make work awkward.”

Kara shrugged, feeling too large in her Supergirl suit, feeling useless in this moment. She was unable to deny what Cat knew, unable to unsee what she had seen.

“So,” Kara hesitated. “What do we do now?”

“What, indeed.”

Cat stood, and when she did she reached out for Kara, helping her up. Cat’s skin didn’t feel any different, didn’t look any different to Kara. Cat led them to a small living area with a lush green couch. Kara perched on it timidly. Cat sat beside her, hands in her lap, visibly nervous.

“So, we’re having this conversation now. Like a bandaid, I guess.” Cat sighed. “I’d suggest we get hammered, but…”

“Oh,” Kara shook her head. “The reason I…It doesn’t affect me. Alien metabolism.”

“Interesting,” Cat said. Then she smiled. A normal human smile. “Thankfully it does something for me. Though not as much as it used to.”

“Do you…”

“Just ask.”

“Um…turn into a bat?”

Cat narrowed her eyes.

“How in the hell would I do that?”

“I don’t know!” Kara said helplessly. “I don’t know about any of this.”

“I thought you were going to ask about blood,” Cat rolled her eyes. “Honestly.”

And there it was. The answer to Kara’s unspoken suspicions. 

“Oh,” Kara paused. “Do you—“

“Yes.”

“Ok, I mean. That’s…”

“I’m not looking for approval.”

“Of course, I know…I just…”

“I don’t kill people, Kara. Surely you know me well enough by now to know that.”

Kara widened her eyes and nodded.

“Firing them is sufficient.” Cat muttered. “A bat? As if that emo in Gotham isn’t enough cloaked drama for the whole Western Hemisphere.”

Cat leaned back a little in her seat.

“It’s not like I wanted this. You of all people have to understand that.”

“Um… which part?”

“Oh for Godssake—being a Vampire. I swear. Are you distracted? Is there an ocean liner sinking somewhere off the coast of Costa Rica?”

“No.” Kara fidgeted. “I’m…surprised. Sorry.”

“Good. Because I don’t have to explain myself, not even to you.”

“I know.”

“However.” Cat looked into her lap. “I don’t want you to be afraid.”

“I’m not.”

“Kara.”

“Miss Grant,” Kara said, her voice firming. “You know what I am. What I can do. I’m just…”

“What?”

“I mean…are you ok?”

“Oh…” Cat looked up at her then, a little rattled by the change of direction. “Well, of course. I mean, I…”

Kara drifted closer, unable to stop herself from taking Cat’s hand. She met Cat’s eye, and a feeling of certainty filled her. It warmed her. They were going to kiss. If not now, then soon. Her skin tingled a little, her fingers hyper aware of where her hand met Cat’s. She let out a breath, and Cat swallowed, pulling away.

“I’m not dying, you know,” she scoffed, looking anywhere but at Kara. “You don’t need to act so maudlin.”

Kara laughed a little. She didn’t often see Cat rattled like this. She watched Cat pretend not to care, pretend she hadn’t felt that moment too. 

“You’re not dying,” she repeated.

“No.”

“But you’re….”

“Undead,” Cat said, without putting much weight into the word. 

“When did this happen?” Kara asked. “Rao, _how_ did this happen?”

Cat smiled wryly then, looking a little smug.

“A little under ten years ago.”

“Wait…but….”

“Before I met you, Supergirl.”

Kara shook her head.

“No…”

Cat shrugged, but she tilted her head. Kara’s earpiece went off, with the telltale trilling from her cell. The look on Cat’s face made it clear she heard it too, but Kara’s attention was immediately elsewhere. Alex was ripping her a new one over going MIA in the middle of a fight. She had a rogue alien to catch. 

Cat gave her hand a careless little wave, nodding towards the balcony.

“Go.”

* * *

Cat had correctly predicted it. Work was, if not awkward, then a little strange. The refurbishment of Cat’s office, complete with a series of dramas over the color of the new couches, provided a welcome distraction. But when that was done, Kara was left with the strange new reality between them. She found herself staring into the office at odd moments, wondering what Cat could see, hear. She watched Cat with various drinks, trying to resist the urge to zero in on them and figure out which was blood. Did she keep blood in her office? Or was it secreted away at home. And Carter. What did Carter know? Was he safe with her? It was all too much. Alex had often called Cat a vampire, but Kara had assumed it was metaphorical. 

Still, all of this was undercut by the simple fact that Kara had never known Cat as a human. The acerbic but caring woman whom she idolized had always been something other. And while Kara had often been terrified of Cat, she was never _that_ terrified. 

“You’re thinking too hard.”

Kara looked up, blinking at Cat standing over her desk. How had she managed to sneak up on her like that? The desks around Kara’s in the bullpen had emptied for the night, the lights already dimmed lower. Cat regarded her with a knowing smirk, which made her feel nervous. 

“Oh Rao,” Kara said. “Please tell me you can’t read my mind.”

She still hadn’t gotten used to the soft sound of Cat laughing, really laughing. Still found the warmth in her eyes a little dangerous when they were alone.

“Of course I can’t,” Cat said, rolling her eyes. She perched on Kara’s desk, which made Kara even more nervous. “How do you think I knew you weren’t human?”

“What?”

Cat gave a single-shouldered shrug, and tilted her head to look at Kara’s screen.

“ _Still_ with the flower arrangements for Saturday?”

“I’m nearly done.”

“Leave it,” Cat said, sliding off the desk again, her hips giving a slight wiggle to rearrange her pencil skirt into a less scandalous position. She seemed aware of how Kara was watching her, seemed to enjoy it even. But that didn’t mean Kara knew what to do. She settled on the most recent shocking revelation.

“Can you really read minds?”

“Well enough,” Cat hummed. “Bits and pieces at least. Nothing like that alien you dragged in to replace you awhile back.”

“I…”

“Whole milk in my latte? Please. I trained you out of that in your first week.”

“I’m…sorry?”

“You should be. Next time just call in sick, like a normal person.”

“But you wouldn’t take no for an answer!”

Cat glared, but it was without too much ire. She seemed to be stalling for time. The way she fiddled with her over-large necklace made her look a little at a loose end, which was the same way Kara felt all of a sudden.

“Miss Grant…”

“Please. I think we’re a little beyond formalities, Kara.”

Kara nodded, but she still didn’t know what to do.

“I’d offer you a drink,” Cat said, clearly trying to sound casual but Kara could sense some nerves behind the bravado. “But I know it would only be wasted on you.”

“What? No it wouldn’t be,” Kara said. “Just because I can’t get drunk?”

“Your go-to is lemonade.”

“Lemonade is tasty!”

“We need to develop your scotch palate at least,” Cat sighed. But then she seemed to relax a little, as if she had come to a decision. Chewing her lip slightly she walked back into her office. Kara hesitated, but she heard her name being called. Heard the telltale clink of glass as Cat removed the lid from her new crystal decanter.

“Scotch appreciation class starts now,” Cat managed to make the words sound suggestive, her tone playful. But when Kara didn't hurry over right away she turned demanding. “Do you need a written invitation, Supergirl?”

**Author's Note:**

> I so wanted this to be more than the mere hints of romantic attraction that ended up here, but alas I got distracted by the vampire stuff. I hope it was enjoyable regardless.


End file.
